Why is responsible investing important?
With this in mind, we believe it’s in the best interests of our clients that the companies and securities we invest in adopt best practice in managing environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks that jeopardise the long-term interests of shareholders.
By addressing ESG issues, a responsible investment approach not only tries to protect the planet and people. It also seeks to preserve wealth and generate returns through better risk management and the identification of promising investment opportunities.
Our approach to responsible investing is guided by the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). These are six guiding ideas that investors voluntarily agree to meet.
The PRI is also the name of the body that assesses how investors are measuring up to the principles.
Our responsible investment principles
ESG integration
Engagement with consequences
Voting with purpose
Transparency
Engaging with our suppliers
At Rathbones, we believe in keeping up a dialogue with the companies we invest in, to create value for our clients. Engaging with companies helps us understand how they handle important environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. This can improve our investment decisions by giving us more information. It can also encourage better business practices at the companies we invest in. That could reduce the risks faced by our clients.
What is responsible investment?
Responsible investment means considering environmental, social and governance ESG issues when making investment choices and taking decisions as a shareholder. . This is often called ‘ESG investing’.
But responsible investment is broader than this. As a responsible investor, we also consider ESG issues when taking decisions as a holder of shares and other assets on our clients’ behalf. That includes dialogue with companies – also known as engagement – and voting at company meetings.
Responsible Investment in Two Minutes
Our video on responsible investment outlines the challenges facing people and planet and how these can affect the value of investments. The animation also explains how we approach responsible investment.
We set out our four principles that help us address these problems, identify the opportunities and show the action we’re taking. These are ESG integration, engagement with consequences, voting with purpose and transparency.
Governance and policies
